Tag Archives: African Buffalo

Marakele’s Behemoths

There’s no denying that Africa’s mega-mammals are a great attraction for visitors to our national parks, and being in close proximity to these majestic and charismatic animals remains a thrill we cannot ever tire of, no matter how often we have the pleasure to see them up close.

The Cape, of African, Buffalo may not box in the same weight division as the rhinos and elephants that also call Marakele National Park home, but they have a well deserved fearsome reputation, especially the cantankerous lone males, of which we saw quite a few while we were exploring the Park on our short visit last week.

With our white and black rhinos being so severely threatened by poachers it was heartening to have several good sightings of these prehistoric-looking animals at Marakele, and we realised again what a great debt of gratitude we owe the rangers who keep these animals safe on a daily basis.

An elephant roadblock is always a wonderful experience, but in Marakele, where the elephants are less used to having vehicles in their space, it can be downright exciting! It is important to give the grey giants lots of space and respect, so I am grateful that I can trust Joubert to get the shots while I keep the car pointing in the right direction!

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

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Limpopo Ramble 2022: Tlopi Buffalo Pub

One afternoon during our recent visit to Marakele National Park, while relaxing on the deck of our safari tent and enjoying the serenity of Tlopi Camp, this sizable herd of buffaloes visited their local waterhole for a drink. Joubert is responsible for all these pictures.

Satara Summer 2021 – Beware The Buffalo!

The grasslands of the central Kruger Park supports several very large herds of African Buffalo, as well as numerous old bulls relegated to solitary lives. Encounters with Buffaloes are always exciting, for even when they’re in the best of moods they still look at you as if you are overdue on money owed to them. Though this is mostly for show and probably as much to satisfy their curiosity as it is a threatening posture (we’ve rarely been charged by buffalo while in a vehicle), these powerful animals deserve their dangerous reputation and should be treated with respect.

Summertide Rambles 3 January 2021

Sadly that horrible day arrived when we had to depart for home. Thankfully, as we were on our way to the Park’s gate this morning, Mountain Zebra National Park sent a delegation of buffalo to wish us well on our journey .

A day in Pilanesberg: Hour 6

We’re still on a high from our sighting of Rain the cheetah and her cubs when we turn from Nare Link into Sefara Drive in the Pilanesberg National Park, following the road uphill. Before we even crest the rise we become aware of the sound of thundering hooves moving at speed…

Buffaloes!”

The Park’s buffaloes are so seldomly seen that they’re known as the “ghosts of the Pilanesberg”, and any encounter with them is a thrilling treat. Even more so these particular buffaloes, as they are in quite a rush to get away as quickly as possible, allowing only a few photos as they run past us, thankfully without smashing into our vehicle. Was it us who scared them?

As the buffaloes stampede down into the valley, we get back our composure and drive on. We don’t get very far however before Joubert yells out, again, “Lions!” Could it really be our third lion sighting of the morning!?

Indeed, there obscured behind some twigs and branches, are a pride of 5 lions wrestling with a buffalo cow on the ground! Now the stampeding herd of buffaloes we saw half-a-minute ago makes perfect sense!

As the bellowing of the cow dies down, no longer to be heard above the sound of raindrops on the car’s roof, and her feverish kicking stops, it’s clear that the fight is all over. In the excitement it takes a while for me to figure out that if I drive past the scene we’d have a much clearer view of it looking back. Just as the feeding starts one of the younger lionesses gets up and walks off, presumably to collect the pride’s cubs to join the feast. While we wait almost an hour for her to return, she doesn’t, so the cubs must’ve been quite some distance away. In the meantime the sights and sounds of the lions tearing the buffalo cow open and apart is as bone-chilling as you can imagine.

And to think we’re only half-way through our day in the Pilanesberg!

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)

Scene where we saw the buffaloes and lions on Sefara Drive

If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.

To be continued tomorrow.

Muddy fun at Dries se Gat

“Dries se Gat” is one of our favourite waterholes in Mokala National Park, not only because I share a name with it but also because there always seem to be something interesting happening there.

During our latest visit to Mokala we arrived at the waterhole just as a big herd of 100+ buffaloes were making their way to the water, and could spend quite a bit of time watching the animals interact with each other while slaking their thirst and enjoying a mud bath.

If you’d like to learn more about Mokala National Park, why not have a read through the detailed post we did about the Park in 2016.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi’s Giants

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is home to giants; behemoths that can cause the earth to tremble with every step. And they’re not shy about showing themselves either, as we found out again during our visit in December.

Buffaloes were in evidence throughout the Park, whether as lone bulls, in small bachelor groups or in huge herds.

We could never tire of seeing elephants!

The curious giraffes tower over everything else in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, except the magnificent scenery…

It is thanks to Hluhluwe Imfolozi that we can still see the Southern White Rhino in the wild today.

We didn’t get to see the hippos on this trip, and only managed two quick sightings of black rhinos that were too fleeting for photos, but still, these galleries should be proof enough that giants still roam Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

hip-white-rhino-and-buffaloes

Searching for Buffalo

Probably due to the prevailing drought, we encountered very few buffalo in the five days we spent around Satara during our winter visit to the Kruger National Park. However, that all changed when we moved northwards to Mopani, where better winter grazing seems to have attracted even more of the huge herds of these bulky beasts than we would normally have expected to see in that region.

Careful

Careful now, that’s quite close enough!

Buffalo

Buffalo

This buffalo, seen at Pafuri in Kruger National Park, made it abundantly clear that we shouldn’t venture any closer…

Careful” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

Sunset, dust and buffaloes

Late this afternoon we encountered a massive herd of buffalo, making their way one-by-one, along a sandy ridge, out of the bed of the Mphongolo River. The climb was clearly tough on many of the animals, and the dust rising into the glaring sunlight added nicely to the fatigued feeling of the scene unfolding before us.